About two weeks ago, I started leaving the door outside open on warm days (which is most days to be honest, though it is getting colder and it’s now down to the 40s most nights), and last week they started venturing out on their own. They have a chicken coop outside in my small fenced yard off the house that I’ll transition them too full time when they no longer need the heat lamp (most of them could probably go now).

The light yellow chicks are now full white and fully feathered, having lost all their chick fuzz even on their heads. They really look like miniature adult chickens.

The dark yellow ones are looking quite good. They are still a little fuzzy, but mostly they have all their feathers and their tails are growing. All except one that is. One little yellow chick still looks like about a 1-2 week old chick. She only has a little feathering on her wings and still has mostly baby chick fuzz. She’s about 1/3 the size of the others. She seems to eat and drink fine. I lowered the heat lamp back down last week and she seems to be doing better since then, she’s moving around more and I think she may be getting a little bit bigger. Perhaps she just needed more warmth than the others.

The black ones are looking rather scruffy. They are somewhere between having their feathers and losing their baby chick fuzz. Some of them are pretty funny looking. They definitely don’t have all their feathers yet, but some of them are getting there. And they seem to be progressing fine.

So back to the venturing outside. There are 3 (one from each breed actually) that are braver than the others. They were the first out the door and go the furthest outside. At the moment, they are still staying pretty close to their pool and get back in it frequently. At most I’ve seen them about 5 feet from the door and only one or two of them make it off the cement. However, I think they are enjoying going outside and chasing bugs and such. 🙂

I’m really looking forward to the eggs they will be producing, but that’s a ways off yet.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-gLBqJMv2u2U/UmBuXczWlXI/AAAAAAAABoM/gzakcHCy17c/s144-c-o/IMG_20131017_160700_829.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/113749325768518604662/20131018FirstBraveSoulsToTryTheOutdoors#5935865658021942642″ caption=”Venturing outside for the first time is scary, but this one was the first” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20131017_160700_829.jpg” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qlKZd9cgsKs/UmB0BZMZuYI/AAAAAAAABok/-ydB5FyJFPM/s144-c-o/IMG_20131017_163228_233.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/113749325768518604662/20131018FirstBraveSoulsToTryTheOutdoors#5935871876165908866″ caption=”Another first timer” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20131017_163228_233.jpg” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-X1X-kCk5vhs/UmBuQ5eDbxI/AAAAAAAABoA/dVwuMG14DaU/s144-c-o/IMG_20131017_160643_043.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/113749325768518604662/20131018FirstBraveSoulsToTryTheOutdoors#5935865545458151186″ caption=”I’m getting more brave I can now get a few inches from the wall” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20131017_160643_043.jpg” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-dzZcM2SNBm4/UmF87Nw-xgI/AAAAAAAABpU/95u8_rNt2Ec/s144-c-o/IMG_20131018_112441_232.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/113749325768518604662/20131018FirstBraveSoulsToTryTheOutdoors#5936163140600251906″ caption=”The third brave soul. I’m really brave, I can go 3 feet from the door” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20131018_112441_232.jpg” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Nmk2hGRksFo/UmF8-mKd61I/AAAAAAAABpg/Jr8cM4PohnA/s144-c-o/IMG_20131018_112457_974.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/113749325768518604662/20131018FirstBraveSoulsToTryTheOutdoors#5936163198689209170″ caption=”It’s mostly the same three chicks who venture outside, but others are starting to get brave, and these three are venturing further” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20131018_112457_974.jpg” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-VbPOPuxCy_4/UmQWed1WrJI/AAAAAAAABwA/c9-fzHcGGy4/s144-c-o/IMG_20131020_102841_278.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/113749325768518604662/20131018FirstBraveSoulsToTryTheOutdoors#5936894921441455250″ caption=”The little chick who isn’t growing like the others. You can see how much smaller she is.” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20131020_102841_278.jpg” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-TJFtWnO0MSs/UmQWeWn3OwI/AAAAAAAABwc/5WhwIp4zdIQ/s144-c-o/IMG_20131020_102907_866.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/113749325768518604662/20131018FirstBraveSoulsToTryTheOutdoors#5936894919505820418″ caption=”Here she is next to one of the others of the same breed. You can see the definite difference in size and feathering.” type=”image” alt=”IMG_20131020_102907_866.jpg” ]